Hagane No Shinigami?
by Mizuri-chan
Summary: Al was sick, Shinigami want to kill them both, and the Elric brothers are stuck in a strange new dimension with even Stranger people... Or, are they even human? In a situation like this, what's an Alchemist to do?


_Hagane no Shinigami?_

**Fullmetal Soul Reaper?**

What a world to end up in. That was it. He and Al were never opening the truth gate, ever, ever again... unless they could get home using it... but that was unlikely...

Seriously! What the Hell was a "Computer" And what were those... Ipod things? And, oh yes, this one got him the most. WHAT IN THE NAME OF THE TRUTH GATE WAS _**FMA**_!

He didn't get the "Twenty first century generation" At All. However, after enrolling him in a "High School", Alphonse had integrated quite nicely, having made friends with a couple of girls named Orihime, Rukia, and Tatsuki, and a couple of boys by the names of Ichigo – 'Doesn't that mean "strawberry?"', Uryuu, Toshiro, and Sado. Apparently everyone called Sado "Chad"... Weirdo's...

Man, these people were strange. But the fact that they were strange wasn't what irked him. What irked him is that they all kept saying that he looked like the main anime character for FMA.

"FMA?"

"Yeah, Ya look just like the main guy!" said Tatsuki.

They still hadn't explained what the acronym meant, so today, he decided to spend his Saturday at home while his brother went for groceries to watch an all anime channel. He sat through Rourouni Kenshin, Kekkaishi, Cowboy Bebop, Ghost in the Shell, Inuyasha, The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi, Luckystar, Naruto, Naruto shippuden, Death Note, and several other mainstream animes until one finally caught his attention.

It was an anime called Bleach, and as he turned up the volume and paid close attention, he picked out several of his little brothers friends. Chad, Orihime, Uryuu, Toshiro, Ichigo, and Rukia were all on screen, talking about some kind of problem they had encountered.

He froze.

"_The problem is those two brothers... Ed and Al, right, Rukia?"_

"_Yes, that's right. The Elric brothers. They have knowledge of the truth gate that was used decades ago to discourage people from trying to bring back the dead. With the knowledge they have obtained, it would be simple for them to infiltrate the soul society to find their mother, and as stubborn as they are, they'd give it all they had to do it... That could upset the balance as badly as the Quincy did all those years ago, if they were to find out about the soul society. If that happens, we have to kill the stronger alchemist."_

"_Which is?" Orihime asked nervously._

"_Alphonse Elric."_

"Wh- What the hell?" Ed muttered, watching Orihime protest. She had just made his "best friend in a pinch" list.

Why the hell would they even be concerned about this whole "soul society breach"? How was he even supposed to know about it? They had unknowingly just given Alphonse his death sentence!

"Dammit..." Ed muttered, flipping around to see if there were any earlier episodes of "BLEACH" to tell him how to get into the soul society. If they took his brother, he'd be damned if he didn't get him back!

"Man, I hate math class... You'd think somebody like Shihoin-sensei would make it a little more interesting!"

"But you excel at math, Al! You're like the king of equations!" Keigo Asano exclaimed.

Alphonse sighed.

"Just because you're good at something, doesn't make it fun... Believe me..." Al muttered, reflecting on his days inside that armored shell. Good at alchemy? Yes. Fun being stuck in a suit of armor, unable to even _sleep_? No. Not fun. Not fun at all.

"Well, you're good at math, Kurosaki. Is it fun for you?"

"Not a chance."

"My point exactly. Oh, hey! My brother's here! Nii-san!"

Al ran up to Edward enthusiastically, but it was hard for even Keigo to miss the angry, Ichigo reminiscent scowl on his face.

"Hey, Al. Come on, we have some errands to run and I need your help."

"Oh, Ok. Bye guys! See ya tomorrow!"

"Tomorrows Saturday, Alphonse." Ichigo scoffed.

"Well, Monday then. See you!"

"Ja, ne."

"So where are we going, Nii-san?"

"It's a store called Urahara shop."

"Oh! I've heard of that place! Rukia says she goes there sometimes to get her soul candy fez!"

Ed cringed at the thought of finding Rukia there, and wondered if it was a good idea to bring his brother with him. True, there was safety in numbers, but if he led his little brother to his demise, Edward would never forgive himself.

"Oh. I just need to speak with the shop-owner. You can go ahead and look around if you want."

"okay... Brother, Is something wrong? You seem... uh... I guess tense would be a good word."

"No, everything's fine. I just don't know what to expect of this guy... From what I hear, your sources might say other wise, he's supposed to be kinda eccentric."

"That's mister Urahara for you."

"You met him?"

"Once. He came to school to give Rukia one of her "special orders." Whatever that is. She wouldn't tell us what was inside her package. Seemed like Ichigo knew though."

'That's because it probably had to do with the soul society' Ed thought as he and his brother rounded the corner.

"Kaarakura Red! Jinta UP TO BAT! HOME RUN!"

"Jinta, you should get back to work. Tessai's going to be angry!"

"SHUT UP URURU! I'm IN CHARGE! STATUS! STA-TUS!"

"OW! Ow! Okay! Stop it, Jinta! That hurts!"

"HEY! Didn't anyone ever tell you not to pick on girls!" Ed yelled, running up to the front of Urahara shop and whacking the red headed boy, Jinta over the head.

"OW! What the-"

"He's right, Jinta. You shouldn't pick on Ururu. Especially when she's kind enough not to hit you back."

A tall, blond man in a green and white striped hat and dark emerald yukata stepped out of the store.

"Hello, Alphonse. Ah, Edward, I'm guessing?"

"Hi Mr. Hat and Clogs."

"Um, yeah, that's me."

"Well, Come on in! Oh, and don't mind Tessai as he shows Jinta why he shouldn't hurt girls."

Ed chanced a look back and let his jaw drop as Tessai shook the boy at an alarming rate. Ed had honestly begun to wonder if Tessai was trying to snap his neck. Don't Mind That? Isn't that Child abuse?

"Brother, come on!" Alphonse said, nudging his brother in the direction of the door.

"Ah, sorry."

Making their way into the small store, Ed spoke up to the shopkeeper.

"Urahara-san, I need to speak with you privately."

"Oh, alright. This way."

"Thank you. Al, stay here."

"Kay."

Ed followed Kisuke Urahara to the back of his shop, which was surprisingly large, and into a sparsely decorated tea room. He took the seat offered to him, and started to speak, only to be cut off by Kisuke.

"Let me guess." He said, waving a hand in the air to silence him. "You're here because you know what soul society wants to do to your little brother, and you want to be trained so that you can defend him properly and win, and also to have a fail safe. If they take him, you want to be able to get him back. Correct?"

Ed remained silent.

"Oh, I get it. You won't admit to knowing anything unless I agree to help you. Smart, considering the fact that you don't know me and you can't really trust me."

"I have experience in not being able to trust people, for the record."

"Well, I'll help you. Come downstairs with me."

Ed nodded and again, followed Kisuke through his larger than it looked shop until he got to a dead end with a manhole in the floor.

"Down here, if you will." Kisuke said, laughing and fanning his face with a little pocket fan that had seemingly appeared from nowhere.

Could these people _GET_. _ANY_. _**STRANGER**_?

"Wow! This place is so Big! I didn't even realize this could be down here!"

Apparently, yes. Yes they could.

"OF COURSE YOU REALIZED IT! OTHERWISE YOU WOULDN'T HAVE LED ME DOWN HERE!"

"Aw, your no fun. However, fun or not, This is going to be your training arena from now on."

"Not bad. Nice amount of room, looks like anything going on down here wouldn't be known to anyone upstairs unless they had some kind of sixth sense."

"Ah, that reminds me. Soul reapers and their pals can sense reatsu levels. And yours is very very Very high."

"S-so what do I do about it?"

"You mask it."

"Okay, and I do that... How?"

"Concentrate on the flow of energy in your body. You have to keep it from seeping out of you. That's what the reapers will sense. Try it, its fun."

Ed rolled his eyes, and concentrated the energy in his body at the center, having had practice due to using alchemy for years. Kisuke was impressed.

"Good job, And perfect timing. Rukia's here."

"Wh- WAIT! What about Al!"

"Keep your composure. She's not in the building yet. She's talking to Jinta. I'll go stall her and you get Alphonse. Keep your reatsu covered, otherwise she'll start asking difficult questions. See ya, sour skittlez!"

"DONT CALL ME THAT! Even though I don't know what that means..."

Ed quickly made his way back up the ladder to the shop and grabbed Alphonse, pulling him out the back door.

When Rukia arrived in, she couldn't help but feel that a body of reatsu had been there, though the feeling wasn't strong enough to act on and she went on about her business.

"Brother, whats wrong? Why'd you pull me out of the store like that? What's going on?"

"I can't answer any of those questions, Al. I'm sorry."

"You know about the soul reapers, don't you Edward." said a voice behind them. A tanned woman with purplish hair and gold eyes stared at him.

"Don't worry, I'm with you and Kisuke. Al, Go on home, Okay?" She asked. The boy nodded and started running in the direction of his home.

Once he was sure Al was gone, Ed turned to the woman.

"Shihoin Yoruichi... Queen of the flash..." He said, awestruck.

"Yup. Listen, make sure you don't just mask your reatsu all at once. It'll leave a trace. Pull it in gradually. Oh, and, how'd you know how to mask it anyway? Aren't you just human?"

"Well... Have you ever heard of Alchemy?"

"Alchemy- Oh! I see. They're on you because of your intel on that old gate thing. Haha, poor "Truth" became pretty obsolete."

"What do you mean?"

"We don't use the gate anymore. Believe it or not, Truth was a mod soul stuck inside a white body with no eyes and was created by the soul society centuries ago... Which brings up a point I've been meaning to make. You're 21. How on earth could you have preformed alchemy and had knowledge of the gate when it was shut down about 50 decades ago, with all information about it destroyed?"

"That's a question I myself would like answered. I don't know how we got here, but I guess by some freak accident my brother and I ended up in a different dimension, and time zone. That's my take on it, at least. I don't really know for sure."

"Hmm... makes sense. Any who, as for your brother, feel free to tell him everything. It's not like it's going to make a difference in the long run."

"You sure?"

"Yes. Positive. Well, till next time, Goldilocks. Ja, ne."

"HEY!" Ed yelled, as Yoruichi turned her back to him. She threw a smirk over her shoulder and did something Ed was certainly not expecting.

"Meow." A black cat with gold eyes looked up at him in the place of Yoruichi, and then darted down a back alley.

"These people are freaks."

"Hey, Al. Come here."

"Nii-san! You're home!"

"Yeah. Sit down, Al. I need to show ya something."

"Um... Okay."

Alphonse slid into the couch in front of the tiny television and watched the screen closely.

"_The problem is those two brothers... Ed and Al, right, Rukia?"_

"_Yes, that's right. The Elric brothers. They have knowledge of the truth gate that was used decades ago to discourage people from trying to bring back the dead. With the knowledge they have obtained, it would be simple for them to infiltrate the soul society to find their mother, and as stubborn as they are, they'd give it all they had to do it... That could upset the balance as badly as the Quincy did all those years ago, if they were to find out about the soul society. If that happens, we have to kill the stronger alchemist."_

"_Which is?" Orihime asked nervously._

"_Alphonse Elric."_

After hearing Rukia's mini speech on the television, Alphonse proceeded to completely freak out.

"B-but Brother! Wh- Why do they want to- I-I mean, why go to such drastic measures! I could understand if it was you, since they hardly even know your name, but... They... They Know me! Why would they..."

"Alphonse, it's not just you or themselves they're thinking about. That soul society place has rules, and they're in place for a reason. All we're going to do is let you finish this year at school, and then move as far away from Karakura town as possible... These people were starting to freak me out anyway. And don't worry about "What if's". If they come along, I'll be the elder brother and handle it. Don't get yourself too caught up, okay, lil' brother?"

Alphonse nodded sharply, still upset.

"And by the way, I talked to Kisuke today. He was a soul reaper once, and so was Yoruichi Shihoin. You know her, right? She teaches at your school."

"Shihoin-sensei... Was a shinigami?"

"Yeah. She and Kisuke are on our side with this. If something happens, go to them if you can't reach me or if it's too dangerous."

"Okay..."

"Oh, and, Al? You can trust Orihime-chan too."

Orihime smiled as her friend Rukia responded to her treat with a bewildered smile, but noticed bubbly little Al with his back against the tree, barely poking at his lunch and looking rather stressed.

"Hey Al, you okay?" Ichigo asked loudly, noticing Orihime's staring and tracing it to Alphonse. Rukia glanced at him, studying his reaction.

He froze. These people were ready and trained to kill him. One false move, and... He didn't want to think about it, though his pale face went paler.

"Ah, What? Oh... Y-yeah... I'm just tired is all. End of the year testing for juniors really bites."

Ichigo nodded, seemingly satisfied with the answer as Orihime went to work trying to get him to have a bite of her newly invented snack. While he politely refused, Rukia couldn't help but notice that there was something off about his reatsu. It's level was sinking and rising at erratic rates and she couldn't place his exact level. He was nervous about _something_ and somehow, end of the year testing didn't do it for her. Al was smart. Tests were easy for him, and it wasn't like him to freak out over them. Something serious was going on, and Rukia intended to find out what...

_**Even if it killed **__him__**.**_

_****_

"Kisuke..."

"Yesh, Neko-chan?"

"Its Yoruichi. Anyway, I think we should get to the Elric's apartment... quickly."

"Why do you say that?"

"Kuchiki Byakuya, captain of Sixth squad, Hitsugaya Toshiro, captain of Tenth squad, Zaraki Kenpachi, captain of Eleventh squad, And Kyouraku Shunsui, captain of Eighth, are all here, along with their Lt.'s. It's going to get ugly for them if they don't scram while they still have the ability."

"Well, then, lets get moving, Shall we? Queen of the flash?"

Yoruichi smirked, still looking away from him, in the direction of the Elric's apartment.

"Now you're talking."

"Alphonse, you look pale. Are you okay?"

"Brother, I'm fine. _**Stop**_**. **_**Asking**_**.**"

Ed recoiled at his little brother's harsh tone. He'd never seen him so stressed out before. He got up and put a firm hand on Al's shoulder, gave a squeeze, and continued walking to finish the dishes that had accumulated since he'd been going to Kisuke's to train. The past couple weeks had been hectic for Edward, between working, training, and helping Alphonse with his Social studies and Japanese History homework, he'd barely had time to do anything else since he'd been so tired. As it were though, today Kisuke had told him to go home early, and as he wasn't exhausted, and had time, he could finally start on the chores he'd been pointedly ignoring for the past three weeks.

Starting on the dishes, he found himself looking out the window absentmindedly. For a minute though, he thought he'd seen _people_ jumping around on the rooftops of the houses down the street from his 8th story apartment. Dismissing the thought, as if he didn't have enough to think about already, he shook his head and began to concentrate on what he was doing before he accidentally cut himself on the knife he was cleaning.

He stared in the water. He'd changed since he'd been training with Kisuke. He'd gotten taller, actually, (it wasn't much of a help when facing off with shinigami, but he was still proud of it), and he was more muscled than he'd ever been in Amestris. Kisuke even promised to teach him how to handle a sword, and get a zanpakuto. Ed didn't know what a zanpakuto was, but he liked the sound of it, and the three "States of zanpakuto". He especially liked the way Bankai sounded. Oh yeah, he _Really _liked _Bankai._

Kisuke had also promised to take him to some people who had fought Ichigo in a life or death battle, died, and came back to life in a place called Hueco Mundo. They were Grimmjow and Ulquiorra, if he remembered correctly.

Ed couldn't wait to learn from them. After all, they had come back to life, hadn't they? That was what he and Al had originally wanted when they tried to bring back their mother. It was sure to be interesting if nothing else.

He put away the last cup on the drying rack, and was about to start cleaning the bedrooms when there was a knock on the door. Curious to see if it was Yoruichi or Kisuke with some new tip or tidbit pf advice, he went to answer it. What greeted him at the door was quite different.

"Hello, may I help you, sir?" Ed asked, studiously eyeballing the man in his doorway, and the others that were lounging about the walkway outside.

"Yes. I'm looking for Alphonse Elric. He lives here, correct?"

"Yes, he's my little brother. He just went to sleep though. Can I take a message?"

"Nii-san?"

"Al, I thought you went to bed."

"I did. But I heard someone at the door. The bell woke me up."

"Oh. Well, then, there he is. Who might you all be, if you don't mind me asking."

"I'm Kuchiki Byakuya, this is Abarai Renji, Hitsugaya Toshiro, Matsumoto Rangiku, Zaraki Kenpachi, Yachiru Kusajishi, Kyouraku Shunsui, and Nanao Ise."

"Uhm, okay..." Ed said as each and every one of the aforementioned made their way past him into the apartment.

"May I ask what it is you want with my brother?" he asked, noting exactly where the name Kuchiki and Abarai, and Matsumoto and Hitsugaya came from. The white haired boy known as Toshiro gave him an inquisitive stare.

"Do you know who we are?" he asked.

"Hitsugaya Toshiro, Matsumoto Rangiku, Zaraki Kenpachi, Yachiru Kusajishi, Kyouraku Shunsui, Nanao Ise, Abarai Renji, and Kuchiki Byakuya, right? You just introduced yourselves a second ago."

Toshiro narrowed his eyes in speculation of Edward. He didn't get to speculate long, because right when he did, a female voice drawled from behind Byakuya, followed by a more irate one.

"Nee, Bya-kun, why didn't you tell me there was a house party?"

"It's not a house party Konata! Sheesh, you'd think you'd have realized by _now_ that your kareshi doesn't _do_ parties, but aside from that, you're right. If you were all going somewhere, why not invite us?"

"Yeah! Why not invite _Kagamin_ and me?"

"It's Kagami, Konata. There's no "N"."

"Gomen, gomen."

Toshiro and Byakuya exchanged worried glances as their soushin partners arrived in the doorway. Ed and Al, though, sniggered at Konata's use of a nickname for Byakuya, who didn't seem the type for nicknames at all.

"Bya-kun?" Al asked. Byakuya shot him a glare. "Nice, dude." he chuckled behind his elder brother, who was flat out laughing. "I wonder if she calls him Byaka-kun too, Al!" he howled, making his brother's stifled giggling gain volume. Konata sighed.

"Oui. Elric-san. I wouldn't test his temper if I were you. Byakuya is a very collected person, but he's also very strict, and very strong. It's a really bad idea to make him angry. That is, if you value your good health." she said nonchalantly, walking up to Ed to poke him in the chest with a smile.

'This girl... She's from Lucky star. Izumi Konata...' Ed thought. Then another thought hit him as he looked down at the top of her head.

"Are you fifteen?"

"Ten years off."

"So then... You're pretty tall for your age. Very well spoken as well." He said nicely.

"... Wrong way, mister. I'm 25."

"... Seriously?"

Konata's face went black with a rage that rarely showed, and Kagami hid behind Toshiro a little, and he hid behind Renji, who hid behind Kyouraku, who was hiding behind Kenpachi, who had moved behind Byakuya, who was shivering.

"... You don't want to test me. You're 21, right? Well I'm four years your senior, and I will hurt you. _Badly_." She hissed, clutching his collar.

"You don't look it at all. I mean, wow, I thought I was short and- KUU!"

"Say that again, kid, I dare ya, I _**dare ya.**_"

"A-anou... Konata-chan... M-maybe we should go..." Byakuya said, his shivering in fear of Konata's wrath impairing his speech. His gaze went from Edward's terrified little brother to Ed himself, who had been punched from the doorway into the living room and over the couch. Byakuya could see his legs hanging over the back of the furniture.

"Wow, Kenny! He really made Kona-Kona mad!" Yachiru said from Kenpachi's shoulder. The battle scarred man nodded, even he unwilling to address the blue haired girl in front of him. She trained with him often, so he knew what her own reatsu was like. It was greater than his, even, and she also had a zanpakuto, and had unlocked her bankai and shikai in less than two days after mastering and getting her zanpakuto. That little woman was scary, even to him.

Toshiro and Kagami shuddered, watching Ed slowly get up and hobble around the couch.

"Y'know, chibi-chan, That kinda tickled." He laughed. Konata whirled around at the sound of his mocking voice.

"I can't believe you're still talking. After a hit like that, you-"

"After a hit like that, you dented my automail."

Ed held up his metal arm for Konata to see.

"However, if that had hit me in the face, I probably would've been killed. You hit me hard enough to dent _diamond reinforced iron._ How the hell did you manage to do that and not break your hand?" He asked, thoroughly confused. Konata was just a normal girl from a normal town in Japan. How the hell...

"So you really don't know." Toshiro said. Ed looked at him curiously.

"Know what?"

"Never mind. It doesn't concern you. Let's go."

Toshiro gestured to the door and the other people, most of whom Ed knew were shinigami, seemed to be having a glare war with him. Mostly Byakuya. Toshiro won, and they vacated his apartment and left as swiftly as they came, Toshiro with Kagami's hand, and Konata on Byakuya's back, having insisted on a piggy back ride to "help her wounded pride". She seemed more eccentric than even Kisuke, and suddenly, Ed didn't find the man quite so strange.

"Brother? What was that all ab-" Alphonse began, but a coughing fit stopped him short, and Ed went to him, concerned. He'd seen that cough before.

"Alphonse!"

His little brother smiled, and held his hand in front of his face.

"I-I'm alright, brother." He said, although shakily. Ed wasn't buying it like he'd hoped though.

"Al... Let me see your hand."

"Wh- why would you want to do that? What if you get sick?" Al said, trying to sound as sincere as possible.

"Let me see your hand, Alphonse!" Ed snapped. Al jumped and reluctantly reached out his arm so that Edward could take a look at his hand.

It was speckled with tiny, but numerous droplets of blood.

"Al... Al you knew about this... Why didn't you tell me?"

Alphonse looked down at the ground.

"Al, you know what the technology is like here! You know how much better off the medicine is! Why didn't you Tell Me? Why didn't you ... ?"

"I didn't want to worry you, brother."

"You don't want to worry me? Then don't hide stuff like this from me, Al! I don't want to lose my little brother!"

A small black cat and a man with a green and white hat watched from the open window.  


"Hey, Rukia. Where's Al? You seen him?"

"No, I haven't. He's been gone for two days. What could be going on?"

"Maybe he's out sick." Chad said, joining the conversation between Rukia and Ichigo.

"I hope not. Al's so sweet, it'd be a shame if something happened to him." Orihime sighed, taking a bite of her newest creation.

Rukia didn't miss the glare directed at her as the redhead ate. Ichigo didn't miss it either.

"Orihime, you know what the rules are."

"Did knowing what the rules were stop you from saving Rukia? Huh Ichigo? What you're planning on doing is wrong, and you know it! What if it was you and Karin? Or Yuzu?" Orihime snapped. She quickly packed up her lunch, gave one last glare at Ichigo and Rukia, and then stormed off, just as a blonde head of hair and gold eyes belonging to one of the two Elric brothers arrived in front of the group of students under the tree. Chad, Rukia and Ichigo, along with Uryuu, and Toshiro, all looked up at him.

"Hey, what's her deal?" he asked, turning to look back at Orihime's angry form.

"Ed... Uh, I dunno." Ichigo replied. Edward gave him the "Sure ya don't, buddy" look and then handed Rukia a piece of paper.

"Al asked me to give this to you guys. He... has tuberculosis."

'So that's it...' Rukia thought. 'That's why he was so pale. He knew he was sick, but he didn't want to worry his brother...'

Ichigo exchanged a worried glance with Rukia.

"Al has TB?" He asked. Ed nodded as Rukia read through the diagnostic and test results.

"When did he find out?"

"I don't know. He knew before I did though. He hid it from me, and I only found out two days ago. I took him to the hospital yesterday... He's... still there."

"Then shouldn't you be with him?" Rukia asked. Ed sighed as Ichigo shot her a glare.

"Well, for one, he wanted me to give you that," he said, pointing at the diagnostic, "and the note he put on the back. Plus... I can't stand seeing him in a hospital bed, pretending that everything's fine. D'you mind if I sit down?"

"No, not at all." Uryuu replied, moving over a bit so that Ed could sit in their circle.

"Al... has this habit of hiding things like this so that others don't worry about him. He hates being fussed over and having questions like "Are you okay" "Do you need anything" and "Will you be alright" thrown at him, so he hides things like being sick or being hurt to the best of his abilities. And also, I think he really tried his hardest to hide this from me because I knew someone who died from TB not too long ago. I just wish he'd trust me more with things like this..."

"It must be tough, having siblings like that." Toshiro murmured. Ed nodded.

"Yeah. It'd make it so much easier if he'd tell me about these things, and let me be the elder brother and take care of it. I just... I can't lose him. He's my little brother, and even though it's kinda selfish, he's all I have left. I can't let any_one_ or any_thing_ take him away from me. I can't... I'd just... break."

Ed looked down at the tiny blades of grass at his feet, and then up at Toshiro, Rukia, and Ichigo.

"I'm sorry. I should get going... I still have to pick up some groceries."

"Oh... Hey Ed." Ichigo called as Edward began to get up.

"Yeah?"

"You think Al's gonna be okay?" 

Ed smiled a melancholy smile.

"I have to. Thinking otherwise would kill me, I think."

"Hey, Al!"

"H-Hanatarou! What are you doing here?"

"Ichigo told me you were sick. I'm real sorry, Al."

"Hey, there's no point in crying over what can't be changed. I learned that a long time ago."

Hanatarou frowned at Alphonse, who smiled up at him from the hospital bed.

"Besides. The doctor, -hey, don't tell my brother about this, or he'll freak- but... The doctor said that I'll be gone within the next two weeks..."

Hanatarou gasped.

Ed, who had hid himself behind the door to the hospital room to avoid being detected by the young boy visiting Al, suddenly dashed down the hallway, reatsu pouring out of him the way whitewater rapids and ocean currents pour over their paths, wearing away at the rock until they're smooth.

He knocked over a redheaded girl in his blind dash, her flowers tumbling over into Hanatarou's arms as he went to see what was going on. Orihime stopped him, and told him that she'd go to investigate, and to stay with Al. He complied, and Al, having guessed what had just happened, sighed and spoke.

"Listen Hanatarou. It really doesn't make much difference now, since I'm dying anyway. I know who you are."

"Wh- What do ya mean, Al? It's me, Hanatarou!"

"Hmm... Guess it would be more accurate to say... I know _What_ you are. Hanatarou Yamada, seventh seat of the fourth division. Your captain is Unohana Retsu and the lieutenant is Isane Kotetsu. You're a shinigami. A soul reaper."

Hanatarou started, and then looked down at the floor and sighed.

"I really wish you hadn't just said all that, Alphonse..."

Orihime followed closely as Edward sprinted to Urahara shop. It amazed her how fast he could move, and with such accuracy. His eyes were mostly closed, so how did he know exactly where the sidewalks curved?

Not that that mattered. His little brother was dying, and even then, if he wasn't, the shinigami were planning on killing Alphonse. She had a feeling he knew about that already. It also seemed like he was trying to attract as many soul reapers to himself as possible, the way he was letting waves of reatsu pour out of himself.

He tore past Jinta, and Ururu, and even Tessai seemed a little dazed by the blur of blond hair that whirred by him, followed by Orihime. Ed sprinted to the back of the store, jumped down the manhole, not bothering with the ladder.

He landed with a loud thud as Orihime shimmied down the ladder behind him and he began defacing the landscape in the giant training room, screaming obscenities and other such things.

"DAMNIT! WHY MY LITTLE BROTHER!" he screeched, literally punching a hole into the rock face.

"ED!" Orihime yelled. He jumped, and then glared as he hurtled a large piece of rock in her direction.

"YOU AND YOUR DAMN SHINIGAMI BUDDIES DID THIS! IF YOU HAD BUTTED THE HELL OUT, HE NEVER WOULD'VE GOTTEN SICK! DAMN YOU!"

"SOUTEN KISHUN! I REJECT!"

Blocking the giant missile of stone with ease, Orihime stared at Ed with sad but stern eyes.

"I am not letting Al go out like this, Edward. But after what he was saying to Hanatarou, he's probably been taken to the soul society already. We need to get him back!"

"Bya-kun?"

"Please stop using that nickname Konata."

Konata Koizumi rolled her eyes at her captain, Kuchiki Byakuya, who was also her kareshi.

"Byakuya-koibito, this is wrong... The head captain... Something's just not right. You can feel it, right? The weird aura around him?" 

"yes. But you should keep that kind of thing to yourself, until you get to your private quarters."

She sighed.

"It's just not right, koibito. I mean, neither one of the Elrics brothers were going to do anything. Don't you think that, after the first attempt at resurrection, after they both almost died, everything they both went through- I highly doubt that either of them would be willing to try it again, especially knowing whats at stake this time. After everything and everyone they lost..."

"You're thinking too hard, Kona-chan."

"maybe... But I doubt it."

"Second seat, Izumi Konata!"

"Yes, Lieutenant Abarai!"

"The execution is going to start in about 12 hours."

"Th-They're not going to wait? Isn't there a 30 day period?"

"This is a special case. He's an alchemist, Konata."


End file.
